Infiltration
by Cap't-0609
Summary: Steve and Natasha rendezvous with Orchid and begin their infiltration of a Hydra base.


Infiltration

Cap hit the ground in the practiced stance, shield on his left arm with his right arm and his legs crouched to absorb the impact. As he stood up, he took in his surroundings. S.H.I.E.L.D. had picked an ideal location for deep cover infiltration. They had landed in a forest that was laden with thick trees and brush. It was the dead of night and the chorus of singing insects easily drowned out the agents as they landed among the trees. As Steve heard the rest of the agents as they land safely on the ground, he rose to his feet. The smell of dirt and the wind through the trees hit him and opened up a flood of memories. The recollections were chronologically old but for Steve it felt as if they had only happened a few months ago.

The airplane ride reminded him of Peggy. It took him back to the night when Howard Stark had piloted a plane that took Peggy and Steve over enemy territory. Steve remembered exactly how Peggy had looked that night. She had always had a commanding presence but that night strength had radiated from her. It was almost as if she enjoyed breaking the rules and Steve had to admit that was one of the things that had attracted him to Peggy. She had shown so much faith in him that night. The thing that was so important about that display of faith was that she believed in Steve Rodgers and not the shield. He has realized about too late that she had loved him. The thought had never even crossed his mind. How could a woman like that love a skinny kid from Brooklyn like him? Steve's head swam as he remembered what it felt like to hold Peggy in his arms and kiss her. He had felt complete with her, wanted and safe. She had filled a void within Steve that he did not realize existed until she had come into his life. Her strength, intelligence, beauty, and grace made her a once in a lifetime woman that Steve had been truly lucky to find.

"Nice weather we're having."

A voice pulled Steve out of his memories of happiness. Steve was a little stunned; he has not anticipated a voice.

"I said, 'Nice weather we're having.'"

It took another moment but Steve remembered his line.

"Yes but I always carry an umbrella."

"Good. I won't have to kill you then," the voice retorted. Steve rose to his full height in order to observe the owner of the voice. The voice came from a body that only came up to the bottom of his ribcage and Steve could see dark brown hair.

"That would be a shame ma'am."

Orchid titled her head up to look at Steve's face instead of the stripes on his uniform.

"It would be, wouldn't it?" Orchid retorted.

"Orchid," Black Widow spoke quietly but commandingly into the darkness of the forest.

"Natasha," Orchid whispered as she moved past Steve to embrace Natasha. Steve looked on as the two women hugged one another. In the year that Steve had known Natasha he had observed that she was not the kind of person who showed affection to many people. Even if she did regard someone in high enough esteem to show affection, she did not touch others unless they were engaged in combat. Steve had only witnessed one exception to this rule and that was Clint Barton. Steve had noticed that there were a few times when Natasha would display her fondness for Clint with a few passing touches. Whoever Orchid was, she was obviously extremely important to Natasha.

Another agent cleared his throat after a few moments and the women separated. Natasha sniffed as she stepped back from Orchid, "I'm so glad that you are okay," she managed.

"I'm alright, Noodle," Orchid replied softly.

Natasha slightly reddened at the nickname. She looked around to ensure that the only person close enough to overhear was Steve. Natasha straightened her posture and led Orchid over to where Steve was standing.

"Orchid, this is Captain Steve Rodgers. Captain, this is Orchid," Natasha said as she conducted the introductions.

"Nice to meet you ma'am," Steve said extending his hand which Orchid accepted and shook. Steve thought to himself that Nick Fury had misnamed Orchid. Instead of the delicate beauty of a flower, this woman looked as if she had seen every horror that life had to offer and needed every ounce of strength that she could muster in order to just live minute to minute. Steve knew that she must be an excellent agent to garner such reverence from Fury and Natasha. Steve felt a little safer with Orchid on his side.

Once the group had put away their parachutes they were ready to move. Captain America lead the way and as soon as he felt the first few steps of dirt under his boots his adrenaline kicked in. Cap loved the excess flow of adrenaline that his body produced right before battle; it made him feel like he was actually in control of something. There were so few things that made him feel that way anymore. Waking up in 2011 had been so frightening at first but Steve had found his place as a soldier once again and for right now that was all he needed. Steve could barely hear the footsteps of Orchid and Natasha as they walked a few paces behind him flanking his right and left sides. He stole a glance over his right shoulder half expecting Bucky to be there but he was only greeted by Black Widow's harsh stare. Steve half smiled to himself because he knew that Natasha had already transformed into Black Widow. Truth be told, she was always Black Widow and every now and then there would be fleeting glimpses of Natasha.

As the group reached the marked location of Hydra's base, Orchid quickly moved in front of Cap and stopped him in his tracks making everyone else stop as well. Cap was surprised for multiple reasons, the first being that from what he could see in the darkness, there was no base. Natasha walked up to meet Orchid and Steve where they had come to a stop. The rest of the agents moved to form a tight circle around them. Orchid began to whisper,

"The base is hidden underground, there is one way in and one way out. Before we even get in we have to disable part of Hydra's security. 1,000 feet in front of you there will be a small unmarked hatch, this is the entrance. In order to open the hatch, we must first overpower eight men in four different guard stands. Two men are at each stand at twelve, nine, six, and three o'clock. You will need to disable them and steal their uniforms."

One agent looked around and whispered, "And where would these guard stands be, sweetheart?" Orchid simply smiled and grabbed the agent's hand. In one quick motion she had flung him over her and he landed with a quiet smack on the ground that clearly knocked the air from his lungs and quite possibly rattled a few organs around.

"Up there, _sweetheart_," Orchid said through clenched teeth. Natasha smiled and shook her head, "Do not call her sweetheart. She doesn't like it." Cap smiled in spite of himself, "Me, neither," he whispered.

"Well, you heard the lady, we need those uniforms to even get inside," Cap stated. "Let's go get 'em." The team immediately broke into small groups of twos and began to make their way to the posts. Captain Rodgers and Black Widow made their way to the three o'clock post and Natasha took an instrument from her belt and shot it up into the neighboring tree from the guard post as the cicadas sang to cover up the noise. Natasha held the gun in one hand and wrapped her other arm around Steve's waist.

"Need a ride, handsome?" she asked playfully.

"Ma'am," Steve said as Natasha pushed the retractor button that began to lift them to the sky. Once in the tree, Captain America and Black Widow could plainly see their target: one narrow stand, two men with weapons. Black Widow motioned up and Cap's eyes followed. He could see above them that the neighboring trees had fused together and made a bridge of sorts with a mixture of wood, moss, and debris. Natasha maneuvered herself and started to ascend while Cap waited a few moments before he followed suit. Thank God he had climbed trees as a child otherwise this would have been a tougher situation than necessary. Their feet and hands found tiny crevices and inch by inch they made their way to the bridge. Natasha reached the passage first and swung herself up to stand on the only step that was certainly solid wood. Natasha made tiny, dancer-like steps to avoid putting too much weight on the unstable connection. The instant she was on the bridge, Steve knew that any weight was too much weight. Debris began to fall to the wooded floor below and even a few snaps could be heard. The snapping of the walkway seemed to make the guards pay more attention to the trees in their immediate vicinity so Natasha had to exercise even more care while crossing the treacherous bridge. Thankfully, Natasha made it across just in time to watch the bridge buckle. One guard turned to look around the trunk of the tree from the stand; now that Natasha had a firm foothold, she was steady with her back pressed to the trunk with a gun in her hand.

"Guess those old limbs finally decided to give way," the observing guard said to the other. Cap watched as the guard turned back around and Natasha screwed a silencer at the end of her gun with a smile. The twinkle in her eye was unmistakable; Black Widow had been waiting for some action since New York. Steve knew this is where she felt in control too. In the time that it took to inhale, Natasha had jumped up and used her free hand to swing herself onto the stand. She had landed and in the same motion connected a swift kick to one guard's temple as she spun to use the butt of her gun to slam into the other's temple. Both men fell at her feet. Steve knew what she was going to do next; it was the only point of contention between the two of them. Black Widow almost never left a witness behind and Steve was willing to bet she was not going to spare the guards when Orchid's life could easily be taken.

Natasha shot the grappling hook back over to the tree where Steve was still lying in wait. Steve unhooked his shield from his back where he had put it to climb the tree with Natasha. He placed the shield over the rope and gripped either side of it with his hands and kicked off with his feet. As he glided between the two trees, Steve saw two flashes of light that signaled the ending of two lives only seconds apart. In the seven seconds it took Steve to travel the distance between the adjoining trees, Natasha had taken the lives of two Hydra agents. While Steve struggled to come to terms with what his partner had done so needlessly, Captain America knew that in order to defeat Hydra that it would mean the death of many men and women.

Black Widow remained undaunted by her actions and simply began to undress the men and passing items to Steve. They both put the Hydra uniforms over their issued S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms when Steve looked at Natasha with an earnest question,

"What am I suppose to do with my shield?"

Natasha smiled and said, "I have a better idea, Captain. Take off that uniform."

Steve stumbled over his response and his fingers instantly forgot how to function, "Ma'am?"


End file.
